1) Their ownCrawleycard says that despite education, girls do it out of fear. Plan can’t solve. 2) No Solvency- In order to prevent fgc from being practiced- cultural leaders must be involved.
Joe De Capua, staffwriter for VOA News, 8/3/07, http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2007-08-03-voa43.cfm
“Essentially because female genital mutilation and cutting have been justified on the basis of religion and culture. So it was agreed by participants that the onus of fighting this scourge would fall heavily on those leaders, who allow the use of culture and religion to justify the continuation of the practice. It cuts across religion…. It’s not only about Muslims or Jews or orthodox Christians. It’s practiced across all these religions,” he says.
3) Africans are aware of the health effects of FGC now, but they continue to practice it.
Nadine Hoffman, director of the Leadership Council for Human Rights, 7/11/07,
July 11, 2007, “Unveiled Gender Bias,” http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070711/EDITORIAL/107110010&template=nextpage.
All of the women and girls in Gula's village are circumcised, as required by custom. The tradition (widely referred to as female genital mutilation or FGM in the human rights community) is so adamantly observed that an uncircumcised female "cannot even accept a glass of water," one woman explains. The myriad health concerns related to FGM are not taken into account.
Never has there been so much interest from so many levels of African society on so
private an issue. Programs to eradicate FGM seek ultimately to change the very fabric of African social tradition. If these programs are to succeed, they must be implemented by Africans and in Africa where the tradition started. Additionally, they must be designed with acute sensitivity, so as to eliminate harmful practices without disrupting the many rich and beneficial traditions that are often part of the ritual practice. Solvency Frontline
Nahid Toubia, president of RAINBOW (Research, Action and Information Network for Bodily Integrity of Women), is a Sudanese physician whose research has become a standard for understanding FGM. After wondering for years why some women themselves defend the practice -- flying in the face of health risks, prohibitive laws, and even religious leaders' advice -- she came to the conclusion that women who insist on practicing FGM, do so because it is their only means of obtaining acceptability and material gain through marriage, in a patriarchal social setting. According to Toubia, while adopting prohibitive laws, women in FGM practicing communities must be given benefits that will compensate for not complying with social norms. If FGM is practiced by women to gain acceptability in society, then in addition to imposing laws we must give them education, improve their chances of working, and equip them with means to reject the practice, she says.
6) Alternative rites of circumcision is not an alternative to traditionalists and circumcision candidates. The Nation. Africa News. Women and Gender; Enacting Laws Won't End Female Cut. December 3, 2005 Saturday Alternative rites of passage are really no alternative in the minds of the traditionalists and circumcision candidates.That is why Maendeleo ya Wanawake and other NGOs committed to ending FGM or FGCneed to think again. When it comes to a cultural rite, it is difficult to get away with mere symbolisms.It is a well-known fact that about half of the rural districts still practice female circumcision in spite of it being a criminal offence. It is practised not only in remote West Pokot but also in some areas next door to Nairobi, such as Gatundu and Kabete. FGM is a cultural tradition, therefore educating the women in Africa about it is going against morals and beliefs.
Beliefs about the benefits of FGM are inextricable from its role in controlling women’s sexuality and keeping them subordinate to men. Thus, programs which seek to protect women’s health by ending circumcision must also address, and attempt to change, the cultural, social, and possibly religious rationales that underlie the practice.
As it is currently performed, female genital cutting significantly endangers the health of women and girls in Africa and throughout the world. But the dialogue surrounding FGC has the potential to be more divisive than unifying for advocates of women's rights and women's health. Anti-western sentiment is largely directed at priorities and tactics which are viewed as misguided, rather than at the goal of eradication itself. To counteract this problem, action against genital cutting must be linked to other relevant problems such as economic development, family planning and childrearing, education, and healthcare - all of which are crucial in improving general health in developing countries. Education about the medical consequences of FGC can reduce risks by preventing unclean and unsafe surgeries, and although some object that health education implicitly sanctions the practice, there is room to inform women objectively. Adult women should be able to choose if and how they want to modify their bodies.
9) Even if the plan manages to educate women and teach them to say no, it can’t stop fgc from being performed on children who cannot do anything about it Wallace Global Fund, 2k. http://www.wgf.org/publications/reports/2000/paper_fgm.pdf
FGM is the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. It is practiced by a
large number of groups in 27 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and by followers of major religions. Depending on the ethnic group and region, circumcision may be performed at any age from 8 days old through the seventh month of the first pregnancy. Increasingly it is practiced on children, who are in no position to oppose it.
10) More women than men favor FGC and will keep defending the practice no matter what Yale Journal of Public Health, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2004, “Cut Off.” http://www.yaleph.com/archive/vol1no2/story7.html
The opinion of women in Sudan is certainly not uniform. Many women vehemently oppose genital cutting; others, however, are so adamant about its preservation that they have begun to circumcise themselves. According to demographic and health surveys, 79% of Sudanese women favor FGC, and it is women - rather than men - who have championed the practice against numerous attacks. Some Sudanese women who advocate the practice fear being stripped of cultural identity by an imposing outside world; others are concerned that no man will want to take an uncircumcised woman for a wife; yet others argue that circumcision helps a woman to be mistress of her own body. They argue that terming the practice "mutilation" misrepresents it in public discourse.
To be effective, FGM eradication programs must take into account the unique nature of FGMand of the efforts to address it. It is a practice rooted in many layers of African culture and carries meaning and symbolism. Many women continue to support it, even though they realize it harms them. Therefore, focusing on the health consequences of FGM is not enough to stop the practice.Eradication programs must also address the social and cultural factors--the network of taboos, myths, and beliefs about women’s nature, status and sexuality--that underlie female circumcision.
12) Many women want to continue female circumcision for tradition reasons
P. Stanly Yoder, Noureddine Abderrahim, and Arlinda Zhuzhuni, writers for MEASURE DHS+ - a data monitor of population, health, and nutrition programs, September 2004, “Female Genital Cutting in the Demographic and Health Surveys: A Critical and Comparative Analysis” p. 54
In11surveys, afterrespondentswereaskedwhethertheythoughtFGC should con- tinue, those who wanted FGC to continue wereasked why they held this view. The
precoded answers included 1) custom and tradition, 2) good tradition, 3) religion
demands it, 4) cleanliness/hygiene, 5) virginity/morality, and 6) better marriage pros-
pects. Table 4.15 shows the responses given most frequently to support the continua-
tion of FGC. Respondentswere allowed to give more than one answer. A large proportion of respondents cited “tradition,” or “custom,” as their first an- swer to the question. These two terms are used in essentially the same manner and thus are considered equivalent in their meaning. “Good tradition” was another possi- ble coding in some countries, and many respondents mentioned it. “Religion” here
refers to answers that say that religion requires FGC to be done. “Virginity” refers to
answers that say, for example, that FGC protects a girl’s virginity, prevents her from
becoming promiscuous, and prevents immoral behavior. “Marriage prospects” refers
to the belief that a girl cannot be married unless she is circumcised, and that she will
not be acceptable to her husband unless she is circumcised. “Hygiene and cleanliness”
refers mostly to aesthetic judgments of the body’s appearance rather than to being
clean or dirty.
13) Most women want to continue practices of FGM more than men
P. Stanly Yoder, Noureddine Abderrahim, and Arlinda Zhuzhuni, writers for MEASURE DHS+ - a data monitor of population, health, and nutrition programs, September 2004, “Female Genital Cutting in the Demographic and Health Surveys: A Critical and Comparative Analysis” p. 54
The table shows that higher proportions of women than men favor the continua- tion of FGC in all the countries surveyed, although support among women and men
is about equal in Benin 2001 (5 percent each). The percentage who say that FGC should be stopped is consistently higher for men than that of women. Does this mean
that more women than men favor the continuation of FGC? How can this difference
be explained? Three explanations are worth considering.
2) No Solvency- In order to prevent fgc from being practiced- cultural leaders must be involved.
Joe De Capua, staffwriter for VOA News, 8/3/07, http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2007-08-03-voa43.cfm
“Essentially because female genital mutilation and cutting have been justified on the basis of religion and culture. So it was agreed by participants that the onus of fighting this scourge would fall heavily on those leaders, who allow the use of culture and religion to justify the continuation of the practice. It cuts across religion…. It’s not only about Muslims or Jews or orthodox Christians. It’s practiced across all these religions,” he says.
3) Africans are aware of the health effects of FGC now, but they continue to practice it.
Nadine Hoffman, director of the Leadership Council for Human Rights, 7/11/07,
July 11, 2007, “Unveiled Gender Bias,” http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070711/EDITORIAL/107110010&template=nextpage.
All of the women and girls in Gula's village are circumcised, as required by custom. The tradition (widely referred to as female genital mutilation or FGM in the human rights community) is so adamantly observed that an uncircumcised female "cannot even accept a glass of water," one woman explains. The myriad health concerns related to FGM are not taken into account.
4) Programs like the ones the plan funds will never work because they do not attempt to preserve African tradition
Wallace Global Fund, 2k. http://www.wgf.org/publications/reports/2000/paper_fgm.pdf
Never has there been so much interest from so many levels of African society on so
private an issue. Programs to eradicate FGM seek ultimately to change the very fabric of African social tradition. If these programs are to succeed, they must be implemented by Africans and in Africa where the tradition started. Additionally, they must be designed with acute sensitivity, so as to eliminate harmful practices without disrupting the many rich and beneficial traditions that are often part of the ritual practice.
Solvency Frontline
5) The only way the plan can solve is if the women are given opportunities to work
Al-Ahram Weekly, June 5, 2003, Issue No. 643 http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/643/eg3.htm
Nahid Toubia, president of RAINBOW (Research, Action and Information Network for Bodily Integrity of Women), is a Sudanese physician whose research has become a standard for understanding FGM. After wondering for years why some women themselves defend the practice -- flying in the face of health risks, prohibitive laws, and even religious leaders' advice -- she came to the conclusion that women who insist on practicing FGM, do so because it is their only means of obtaining acceptability and material gain through marriage, in a patriarchal social setting. According to Toubia, while adopting prohibitive laws, women in FGM practicing communities must be given benefits that will compensate for not complying with social norms. If FGM is practiced by women to gain acceptability in society, then in addition to imposing laws we must give them education, improve their chances of working, and equip them with means to reject the practice, she says.
6) Alternative rites of circumcision is not an alternative to traditionalists and circumcision candidates.
The Nation. Africa News. Women and Gender; Enacting Laws Won't End Female Cut. December 3, 2005 Saturday
Alternative rites of passage are really no alternative in the minds of the traditionalists and circumcision candidates. That is why Maendeleo ya Wanawake and other NGOs committed to ending FGM or FGC need to think again. When it comes to a cultural rite, it is difficult to get away with mere symbolisms.It is a well-known fact that about half of the rural districts still practice female circumcision in spite of it being a criminal offence. It is practised not only in remote West Pokot but also in some areas next door to Nairobi, such as Gatundu and Kabete. FGM is a cultural tradition, therefore educating the women in Africa about it is going against morals and beliefs.
7) Programs that address health concerns are not enough to stop FGC
Wallace Global Fund, 2k. < http://www.wgf.org/publications/reports/2000/paper_fgm.pdf>
Beliefs about the benefits of FGM are inextricable from its role in controlling women’s
sexuality and keeping them subordinate to men. Thus, programs which seek to protect women’s health by ending circumcision must also address, and attempt to change, the cultural, social, and possibly religious rationales that underlie the practice.
Solvency Frontline
8) Having the West act on FGC just hurts the cause of eliminating fgc
Yale Journal of Public Health, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2004, “Cut Off.” http://www.yaleph.com/archive/vol1no2/story7.html
As it is currently performed, female genital cutting significantly endangers the health of women and girls in Africa and throughout the world. But the dialogue surrounding FGC has the potential to be more divisive than unifying for advocates of women's rights and women's health. Anti-western sentiment is largely directed at priorities and tactics which are viewed as misguided, rather than at the goal of eradication itself. To counteract this problem, action against genital cutting must be linked to other relevant problems such as economic development, family planning and childrearing, education, and healthcare - all of which are crucial in improving general health in developing countries. Education about the medical consequences of FGC can reduce risks by preventing unclean and unsafe surgeries, and although some object that health education implicitly sanctions the practice, there is room to inform women objectively. Adult women should be able to choose if and how they want to modify their bodies.
9) Even if the plan manages to educate women and teach them to say no, it can’t stop fgc from being performed on children who cannot do anything about it
Wallace Global Fund, 2k. http://www.wgf.org/publications/reports/2000/paper_fgm.pdf
FGM is the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. It is practiced by a
large number of groups in 27 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and by followers of major religions. Depending on the ethnic group and region, circumcision may be performed at any age from 8 days old through the seventh month of the first pregnancy. Increasingly it is practiced on children, who are in no position to oppose it.
10) More women than men favor FGC and will keep defending the practice no matter what
Yale Journal of Public Health, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2004, “Cut Off.” http://www.yaleph.com/archive/vol1no2/story7.html
The opinion of women in Sudan is certainly not uniform. Many women vehemently oppose genital cutting; others, however, are so adamant about its preservation that they have begun to circumcise themselves. According to demographic and health surveys, 79% of Sudanese women favor FGC, and it is women - rather than men - who have championed the practice against numerous attacks. Some Sudanese women who advocate the practice fear being stripped of cultural identity by an imposing outside world; others are concerned that no man will want to take an uncircumcised woman for a wife; yet others argue that circumcision helps a woman to be mistress of her own body. They argue that terming the practice "mutilation" misrepresents it in public discourse.
Solvency Frontline
11) The plan doesn’t do enough to solve
Wallace Global Fund, 2k. http://www.wgf.org/publications/reports/2000/paper_fgm.pdf
To be effective, FGM eradication programs must take into account the unique nature of
FGM and of the efforts to address it. It is a practice rooted in many layers of African culture and carries meaning and symbolism. Many women continue to support it, even though they realize it harms them. Therefore, focusing on the health consequences of FGM is not enough to stop the practice. Eradication programs must also address the social and cultural factors--the network of taboos, myths, and beliefs about women’s nature, status and sexuality--that underlie female circumcision.
12) Many women want to continue female circumcision for tradition reasons
P. Stanly Yoder, Noureddine Abderrahim, and Arlinda Zhuzhuni, writers for MEASURE DHS+ - a data monitor of population, health, and nutrition programs, September 2004, “Female Genital Cutting in the Demographic and Health Surveys: A Critical and Comparative Analysis” p. 54
In 11 surveys, after respondents were asked whether they thought FGC should con-
tinue, those who wanted FGC to continue were asked why they held this view. The
precoded answers included 1) custom and tradition, 2) good tradition, 3) religion
demands it, 4) cleanliness/hygiene, 5) virginity/morality, and 6) better marriage pros-
pects. Table 4.15 shows the responses given most frequently to support the continua-
tion of FGC. Respondents were allowed to give more than one answer.
A large proportion of respondents cited “tradition,” or “custom,” as their first an-
swer to the question. These two terms are used in essentially the same manner and
thus are considered equivalent in their meaning. “Good tradition” was another possi-
ble coding in some countries, and many respondents mentioned it. “Religion” here
refers to answers that say that religion requires FGC to be done. “Virginity” refers to
answers that say, for example, that FGC protects a girl’s virginity, prevents her from
becoming promiscuous, and prevents immoral behavior. “Marriage prospects” refers
to the belief that a girl cannot be married unless she is circumcised, and that she will
not be acceptable to her husband unless she is circumcised. “Hygiene and cleanliness”
refers mostly to aesthetic judgments of the body’s appearance rather than to being
clean or dirty.
13) Most women want to continue practices of FGM more than men
P. Stanly Yoder, Noureddine Abderrahim, and Arlinda Zhuzhuni, writers for MEASURE DHS+ - a data monitor of population, health, and nutrition programs, September 2004, “Female Genital Cutting in the Demographic and Health Surveys: A Critical and Comparative Analysis” p. 54
The table shows that higher proportions of women than men favor the continua-
tion of FGC in all the countries surveyed, although support among women and men
is about equal in Benin 2001 (5 percent each). The percentage who say that FGC
should be stopped is consistently higher for men than that of women. Does this mean
that more women than men favor the continuation of FGC? How can this difference
be explained? Three explanations are worth considering.